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Month: April 2016

Classes resume on April 4th. Our assignment last week was Kings (both 1st and 2nd as it was originally one writing) and it was all I could do to keep up. Then came news that my sister, Dolores Mae Schleif , who had been battling leukemia for several months, had taken a turn for the worse. This slowed me down a bit. After class Friday, and working until 11:30 P.M., I finally made my way to the dorm to get some sleep.

As I was climbing into bed, just before midnight, my phone alerted me to an incoming message. It was the message I had been expecting, and dreading, all day. My sister had succumbed to the cancer some twenty minutes earlier. needless to say, I didn’t get much sleep that night.

Not to be overly distracted by life, I was awake and back to work by 6a.m., a hot pot of coffee beside me. I worked until breakfast at 9:00, saving my work before leaving it. After breakfast I continued on the Kings assignment. knowing that I would not get it finished by the 5:00 P.M. deadline, I wanted it to be as complete as possible. The vest majority of the assignment was a summarized bio on each of the kings of Israel and Judah (42 kings & 1 queen). I worked steady, going down the list of kings of Judah first. I had just finished Josiah, reached across my computer to turn a page of my bible and brushed the keyboard.

I have no idea what I did but, all the work, from Queen Athaliah to King Josiah (10 rulers), was gone; nowhere to be found. The computer was set to back up every 15 minutes, but the backup folder was empty. Rarely have I felt that type of frustration in my life. With little time left, I could do nothing but a book summery and final application before it was due; and accept an even more incomplete assignment than I had expected.

This normally would not be a big deal, except that I had already used up my graces in the first two quarters. Between being sick twice and taking time to travel to Minnesota to visit my sister in the nursing home, I had missed 3 assignments and had another incomplete. Basically, what this means is than I must carry a C average and make sure that everything is complete, and on time, for this quarter to get credit for the course.

However, as they say, life goes on and the circle of life continues. Less than 48 hours of the passing of my sister, we welcomed her newest grandchild, Aurora Mae, into the world; born to my nephew and his wife. And, as life continues, I too shall continue to grow and learn.

As always, I need your help. I still owe $2,300.00 for this quarter(includes classes, materials, room&board. I have also committed to being at YWAM Guadalajara, MX by July 1 and need funds to move there.

All donation go for The School of Biblical Studies at YWAM Montana Lakeside and helping to establish me as a long term YWAM missionary in Mexico. If God leads you to donate, the best way is to send check or Money Order, made out to YWAM Montana, to Dennis Mixer, 501 Blacktail Road, Lakeside MT, 59922. If you wish to do it electronically, you can go through PayPal by sending it to accounting@ywammontana.org and putting “Dennis Mixer SBS tuition” in the memo/note area. (both these are tax deductible.

Even if God doesn’t lead you to donate financially, prayers are always needed.

One year ago today I peddled my bicycle onto the Youth With A Mission, Lakeside, Montana base. The purpose? To attend a Crossroads Discipleship Training School; to know God better and to be better equipped to make him known. This was to be a three month course and two months of outreach. Little did I know that God had so much more planned for me.

Part of the DTS included classes done by the young people who teach the School of Biblical Studies. Every time we had these classes, the understanding and passion these young people had for the word of God pulled on me, and I knew I wanted the understanding they had. But first, outreach!

YWAM Montana has five target nations, Taiwan, Thailand, Nepal, India and Ukraine. Imagine the surprise when, after 2 1/2 months of praying about where God wanted us to go on outreach, the answer was Guadalajara, Mexico. To be honest, many of us(students) were disappointed. We were expecting something a little more exotic than our neighbors to the south.

Of Course, when You’re in God’s will, there is never disappointment. The outreach was spectacular! Our team was not only an answer to a prayer, we were also part of a miracle that only God can orchestrate. We had the opportunity to work with King’s Kids, a program for kids 8-18, we did outreach in Chapala, MX and other communities in the area, we visited orphanages, taught English at the local family services and much more.

YWAM Guatalajara made such an impact on me, that I have felt led return on a permanent basis and, have already submitted my application to go on staff there when I finish S.B.S in June.

So, you may ask, “What is this S.B.S.?“. S.B.S. is short for School of Biblical Studies, where we study the bible using the Inductive Study System. But, I’ll save more on that for another blog.

So, Spring break is almost over; third quarter(and final) classes begin on Monday; and, I am in need of your help. S.B.S. cost $2,650.00 a quarter; this includes classes, all materials as well as room & Board. When I’m finished with classes, I estimate the cost of moving to Mexico to be about $1,000.00 and once there I will need transportation, which will cost about another $1,500-$2,000.00.

PLEASE, pray and see if God is leading you to help me with these cost. You can donate in two ways: the best way is to send check or Money Order, made out to YWAM Montana, to Dennis Mixer, 501 Blacktail Road, Lakeside MT, 59922. If you wish to do it electronically, you can go through PayPal by sending it to accounting@ywammontana.org and putting “Dennis Mixer SBS tuition” in the memo/note area. (both of these are tax deductible)